¶1
Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(c), Montana Supreme Court
Internal Operating Rules, this case is decided by memorandum
opinion and shall not be cited and does not serve as
precedent. Its case title, cause number, and disposition
shall be included in this Court's quarterly list of
noncitable cases published in the Pacific Reporter and
Montana Reports.

¶2
In DA 17-0053, Appellant K.S. (Father) appeals the District
Court's termination of his parental rights to his son,
D.S., challenging the voluntariness of his relinquishment of
his rights. Likewise, in DA 17-0054, Father challenges the
voluntariness of his relinquishment that served as the basis
for the District Court's termination of his parental
rights to his son, B.A.S.W. The appeals raise the same issue
and make the same arguments. We hereby consolidate the
appeals for issuance of an opinion applicable in both cases.

¶3
The Department of Public Health and Human Services, Child and
Family Services Division (Department), filed a petition for
emergency protective services regarding D.S. in August 2015,
when he was three years old, and regarding B.A.S.W. in March
2016, shortly after his birth. Father was represented by
counsel throughout the proceedings for each child. Based upon
a sequence of stipulations entered by the parties, both
children were adjudicated youths in need of care, Phase I
treatment plans were approved, and temporary legal custody
was extended through the time the Department filed petitions
for termination of Father's parental rights to both
children in September 2016, and until the resolution of those
petitions. The parental rights of the children's Mother,
H.S., were also terminated, but Mother's rights are not
before the Court in this proceeding.

¶4
During the pendency of the termination proceedings, Father
signed affidavits waiving his parental rights and
relinquishing the children for adoption. Father waived his
right to notice of proceedings regarding the children,
including any hearing for termination of his parental rights
and awarding permanent legal custody to the Department, with
the right to consent to adoption. Father's affidavit
acknowledged that, prior to signing the relinquishment, he
was fully advised of his legal rights and had been
represented by counsel. He indicated that he had received at
least three hours of personal counseling, conducted by
Permanency Planning Specialist Kelly Slattery, at the Montana
State Prison, where he was incarcerated, including receiving
an explanation of the legal and personal consequences of his
relinquishment, his options and legal rights, available
resources, and the rights of his children to access records
about him or to search for him. Father stated he knowingly,
freely, unequivocally, and voluntarily transferred the
custody of his children to the Department, and understood
"that this relinquishment will remain valid whether or
not any agreement for visitation or communication with the
child is later performed." The Department signed
agreements accepting custody of the children.

¶5
The District Court found: (1) the Department had made
reasonable efforts to avoid protective placement of the
children and to return the children to their home, but that
dismissal of the termination petitions would create a
substantial risk of harm to the children or would be a
detriment to the children's physical or psychological
well-being; and (2) custody of the children by Father ...

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